Thanksgiving 2007

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. As most of you know, this is my favorite holiday of the entire year! My heart is very full today, having spent last week with my family.

I flew into Austin from Miami on Friday, November 16 in the afternoon. I did laundry, packed my suitcase again, and all of us went back to the airport on Saturday morning to fly to Nanny and Pa Ford's house. This was McKenzie's first time on an airplane and she was awesome! I am so proud of her! Of course, Maddie is already an old pro. While Maddie watched movies, McKenzie colored, played with toys, and slept. She even carried her own backpack!

We had a wonderful visit with Mom and Dad before Carl and his family arrived on Wednesday. Maddie celebrated her 5th birthday with Nanny and Pa. Mom let her help with baking a birthday cake and Dad supervised birthday pancakes. Grandma Rasmus sent Maddie her first digital camera and Maddie nearly wet her pants with excitement. She is always asking to use mine and now she has her own Fisher Price camera. She has taken about 7 million pictures of nothing, but it's her camera!






My Dad truly came to life when all the grandchildren played together. Maddie and Quinn (age 3) pciked up where they left off last year and had an absolute ball together. Riley (age 1) and McKenzie will learn to love each other. They seemed to have a communication problem. Riley is used to playing with her rough and tumble brother. McKenzie is slightly more delicate and wasn't too sure about the wrestling with Riley. They were a hoot! Quinn can't pronounce McKenzie correctly and his best attempt sounds like MisKenzie. I think I like his version better. The kids had so much fun. Pa played football and baseball in the front yard. They played on the swing set in the backyard. Nanny took pulled them in the wagon. When Pa asked Maddie how far they walked, Maddie replied, "Far enough." What a mouth!







My mother is always prepard to entertain children and of course she had balloons for the kids. No helium - just balloons. They loved it! McKenzie wouldn't let hers go and used it for a variety of things, including playing baby-in-my-tummy!





The weather was gorgeous the first half of the week, but turned very cold at the end of the week. We were bundling everyone up and trying on each other's coats and gloves and even hats ...



We even dressed the kids in their matching pajamas (courtesy of Nanny) to have their picture taken with Santa. It was a lot of fun and I am sure the mall will not soon forget the extended Ford family.



As I write this, I am listening to Faith Hill sing Where is Christmas. Christmas and Thanksgiving are wrapped up in my family. My heart is so thankful for the many blessings in my life, the greatest being my children. Until the day I die I will be thanking God for my babies. I love them so much and I cannot imagine my life without them. And I am thankful beyond measure for the ladies I haven't met but can never forget who brought those babies into this world.



I am also blessed by an amazing brother who I love so much. His children remind me so much of us. I see myself in Riley's eyes and Quinn is 100% Carl Ford with my mother's blue eyes. They are so precious and I love them so much.



And let me not forget the love of my life. I don't always know why she loves me like she does, but she does anyway. I can't imagine life without Kim. I have spent so much time building my business and not nearly enough with the one who made this family possible. It was Kim's dream for a family that brought my babies home and I will never stop thanking her for making that dream come true.

Halloween 2007

Happy Halloween! I spent the week of October 29 on the Carnival Celebration with 70 clients so I missed the actual trick-or-treating with the girls. Fortunately, Sarah took Emery, Maddie and McKenzie trick-or-treating while Stacey and Kim handed out candy. FYI - Halloween isn't Kim's favorite holiday. The girls had loads of fun and we are tremendously thankful to Sarah for saving the day! I am eagerly awaiting the pictures from Sarah and Stacey, which I will share as soon as I get them.

While my girls were going door to door, I was in Key West with Mom. The ship hosted a wonderful costume party and here are a few of my favorites and most memorable costumes. I know some of these people and some of them I do not, fortunately.





Yes, this is me, the Pope, and Sister Mary Merlot (aka Mom). One of my favorites was a man named Denver (approx 6"3 tall) who dressed as Ugly Betty. With the shoes on, he was nearly 7 ft tall. He looks awesome!



Here are some other fun ones.






The grand prize winner of the entire ship was my client, Joey (Yoda), from Denver. I am so proud!



Before I left on my trip, Kim took some pictures of the kids so I wouldn't miss them too much. While I loved the pictures, I still missed them like crazy. Here is the contest of who makes the better Pope. You decide!






Here they are - the two cutest girls in the world loving each other. We are so blessed.

>

Halloween Preview

She finally picked a costume! Madison will be trick-or-treating as Jasmine from the Disney movie Aladin. Here she is trying it on.



McKenzie is going as a fairy, compliments of Auntie Julie's birthday box of dress up clothes.

Kim isn't a big fan of Halloween and I will be out of town for the big event, so HUGE thank yous to Sarah for agreeing to take Maddie, McKenzie, and Emery trick-or-treating while Kim and Stacey hand out candy.

I will be with my clients, who are the members of MCC of the Rockies in Denver, aboard the Carnival Celebration sailing from Jacksonville, Fl. I am so excited that Mom is coming with me on this cruise and we will be dressing up as a Nun (Mom) and the Pope (me). If you had seen the costume for the devil I considered wearing for just a brief moment, you'll undertsand why I went with the Pope!

Good Bye Mt Sinai

Friday marked Maddie and McKenzie's last day at Mt. Sinai Christian Academy. I was sad. I still am. McKenzie has only been there since April, but this is the only child care facility Maddie knows. I thought she would be sad to leave her friends, but she seems unaffected thus far. Kim and I have been very emotional about the change to the new school. We feel so much a part of the Mt. Sinai family and I will NEVER forget the ladies who helped us be better mothers to Maddie and McKenzie. I know there are exciting times ahead for our family, but for now, we pay tribute to the school we've loved for four years. And we will certainly never forget the Mt. Sinai cheer!

Sly and the Family Stone

Kim went to work for Emerson Academy in September. The child development center is owned by our very good friends, Sarah and Stacey. Their daughter, Emery, is Maddie's best friend. Making this change in career has been such a blessing to Kim. She is a different person! She enjoys the peolpe she works with every day, she comes home tired and accommplished, and she has fun. It has been wonderful! The school officially opens on 10/15 and Kim is excited. The school will cater to special needs children since both Sarah and Stacey have a background in special education.

The school itself is incredibly unique. There are animals out back, including 2 goats (1 is pregnant with twins), 2 bunnies, and 3 miniature horses. Until today, there was also a miniature donkey named Sylvester. Kim fell in love with Sylvester. And Sylvester fell in love with Kim. In many cultures, they would be considered married.

Sylvester, however, seems to like only Kim. He has twice attacked the goats with fairly serious results. Sarah and Stacey decided he was too agressive and sold him to a sweet family out in the country. We went by the school this morning to say good-bye. Here are the first and last looks at Kim's donkey - Sylvester.

We're Moving on Up!

We are so excited to share the news with our peeps! We are buying a new house in Round Rock! Kim bought the house we live in now in December 1999. I moved in a few months later. It was the perfect house for 2 people and 2 dogs. We began to outgrow the house when Baby #1 came along with all of her baby stuff. Now that we have Baby #2, we are on top of each other!

The new house is in a golf course community. We stumbled upon the spec house (Ryland Homes) by accident. The house is less than 1/4 of a mile from Emerson Academy, where Kim is now working and the girls will be attending in 2 weeks. The house is on a cul-de-sac with great neighbors. There are several children on the block and many non-white faces. The house is more than double our square footage and we can hardly wait to move in! Of course, we have to sell the home we're in first. Keep your fingers crossed!

We can't wait for all of you to come for a visit. There is plenty of room now! The new address will be 107 Hal Sutton Cove. Though I'm not crazy about the street name (golfer), I love nearly everything about the house. Everyone will have their own room, including Nanny when she comes for visits. I have a beautiful office and the girls have a game room/play room like nothing I have ever seen. Kim has the kitchen of her dreams and we are both drooling over the amount of storage in the house (we have none where we are!). If all goes well, we will move in next month. I promise to take more pictures. For now, here is the outside of the house.



FYI - We had our current home painted in August. For nearly 8 years, I have lived in a brown house. Now it is green. We're meeting with the paint people about changing the brown door and shutters to rust.

The M & M Comedy Hour

I love my children so much. They continue to crack me up daily. Here are some of the funnier moments:

We went to dinner with some friends the other night. They have a very precocious four year old, Emery, who is my daughter’s best friend. We are eating Chinese food around a large round table. Emery’s mother, Sarah, is pregnant so there has been a lot of talk about babies and where babies come from. Without any warning, Madison asks the question not yet asked, “How did that baby get in Ms. Sarah’s tummy?” The table goes silent. This is it. This is the moment we’ve been practicing for. It’s the sex talk for a four year old in a Chinese restaurant with a lot of people close by. Before I could think what to say, Emery says, “That is an excellent question Madison!” She actually folds her hands in front of her face and continues, “You see, there is a sperm and an egg. The two come together and do this dance and then the baby is made. You have to have an egg and you have to have a sperm. You can’t just have an egg or just have a sperm. And that is how a baby is made inside Mommy’s tummy.”

Total and complete silence prevails.

Madison rolls this explanation around in her brain a minute, while she chews on some cantaloupe.

“No, that’s not how it works” she says.

“Yes, it is” says Emery.

“No, it really isn’t. You see if the mommy swallows a black watermelon seed, she has a black baby and if she swallows a white watermelon seed, she gets a white baby. You see to get to your tummy, you go through the mouth.”

The total and complete silence is now broken by the hysterical laughter of the older couple at the next table. Fortunately, we began breathing again at this exact moment.

Check, please!

McKenzie Turns 2

Yesterday was a wonderful day! My new baby turned 2! I have always been one to celebrate birthdays and to make a big deal about the day anyone was born. Of course, I have no way of knowing what McKenzie's first birthday was like and I never will. I don't know if there was a cake or a party or a celebration of any kind. So I felt a little pressure (from myself) to make this one great because the Lord knows how much I love this baby!

We reserved the pavillion at a neighborhood pool for the party. McKenzie loves to swim and this is the place where she has the most fun. She hasn't made many friends in the four months since she arrived, so we invited Maddie's friends and some family friends to help with the celebration. We asked our friends not to bring any gifts since our family has been so blessed with toys and clothes. We just wanted them to have fun with us! The one exception to this rule were the grandparents. So, we opened presents on Saturday morning with just the four of us. Nanny and Pa (my parents) sent McKenzie an aquadoodle, which was the hit of the day. (I highly recommend this gift for any two year old or four year old). Grandma Rasmus (Kim's mom) gave McKenzie a Little People house complete with a doorbell and toilet. The girls have had a ball playing with the little people in this kid-friendly, plastic encased doll house.

Here are Maddie and Mama playing with McKenzie's aquadoodle.



After opening presents, I took Madison to dance class and McKenzie accompanied Kim to Wal-Mart to pick up the cake. It was only a few days ago that McKenzie began expressing a real interest in Elmo, so we found this cake design at Wal-Mart that is actually 24 cupcakes placed together to make Elmo's head. It was so cute! After dance and some lunch, we took a super quick nap and then it was off to the pool. McKenzie went down for her nap with no problem, but Maddie has trouble really committing to the nap.



The pool party was fun, that is for sure. It was incredibly hot and we were fortunate that Tropical Depression Erin passed over the night before, so we were left with merely humidity and not down pours. A kind, or perhaps forgetful, soul left 4 giant, inflatable sharks at the pool for our kids to enjoy. They were a huge hit!



The Elmo cake was fun, though neither of us really thought through the red icing. The red icing made EVERYTHING red, including teeth, tongues, fingers, my shirt, etc. I was concerned at first about the mess, but then I thought, what the hell. You only turn two once! So we let her lose! For any of those reading this blog who haven't had the opportunity to meet McKenzie, you must know her love of food. She needs to experience her food - the smell, the taste, and more often than not the feel. It was a riot!



It was a great day and Madison cried when her friends had to leave. Many of these children have been together in day care since they were a year old. Now, they are starting to go their separate wasy. It was great to be together again and I asked the children to perform their school song. We call it a Mt. Sinai Christian Academy Reunion!

Put the Lime in the Coconut

Did you know Maddie loves to eat limes? Yep. Lemons too. I don't know why, but she loves them! She always has. As a matter of fact, every kid we've ever had loved the lemon from my tea. Kim was cooking dinner the other night and needed to squeeze the juice of several limes into the dish. Maddie was more than happy to polish off the rest. As a matter of fact, she wouldn't even put them down to go to the bathroom!

Barbie Jeep

Kim and I have been wanting to get a riding toy for the girls for a while now. So, yesterday Kim finds an ad from a local family needing to sell a Barbie Jeep since their kids have outgrown it. Off Kim goes to get the Jeep and she stayed outside with Maddie until it was dark last night, teaching her how to drive. Maybe you can understand now what I mean when I say Maddie loves McKenzie so much it hurts sometimes!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Wonder Twins

Yes, here they are - Madison and McKenzie - the Wonder Twins! We are waiting for them to activate any time now. Perhaps they will each take the form of something quiet. Probably not. Our family is remembering the Terrible Twos as McKenzie perfects her use of the word No. The last few days have been rather challenging, but that will change in an hour or two. I just told Mom how much I love my babies. She said, "Now Amy you were just complaining about fighting and temper tantrums yesterday." Welcome to Parenthood! My feelings change on the dime!